phillipe's on soi 39 is the epitome of a small unpretentious restaurant with a giant heart ...

i knew i was going out for a fantastic dinner on friday so i held off on lunch, noshed on some small stuff, and then went and had a fantastic meal at phillipe's on soi 39. this place is tops. great food, awesome service and a very pleasant decor. the menu is changed every few months and accented frequently with a specials listing. in all my visits there, i have only had one dish that was not up to the par of all the others, and it was tonight's trout. the fish was good, cooked perfectly, and the sauce was great too, but the garnishes were lacking. the concasse type veggie malange was over-wrought with fresh herbs and the mousse was also over seasoned with curry powder, which made it unpalatable for me. but, as i said, the fish was perfectly sauteed, as were the almonds.

we started it all with oysters that are imported from france, and they were great with just a squeeze of lemon and some spectacular vinaigrette. what makes his vinaigrette so tasty is the quality of the vinegar he uses, it is like fine wine. i then had a fois gras and duck breast salad that is always perfection. my main course, as i mentioned, was the trout. i finished it all off with a nice warm chocolate tart filled with liquefied chocolate and garnished with a small scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of awesome butterscotch sauce. i cleared my throat with a double espresso as i am known to do.

i was so ravenous to eat my oysters i forgot to take a picture. i know ... how many fekkin' times am i gonna do that? here is a very bad shot of my fois gras and duck breast salad. thank god phillipe cooks a helluva lot better than i take pictures.

one of my friend's had a frog's leg and roasted garlic app.
again, i must apologize for the absolutely shite picture.

my other friend's langostinne app with a langostine foam that was out of this world.

the langostine was followed by this highly recommend confit of duck leg.
i had eaten this dish the last time and it was exactly the same when my friend had it.

my trout with the bogus garnishes.

as you can see it is cooked to perfection.
it was a breeze for me to bone it myself and the flesh was succulent and moist,
it simply fell away from the comb with just one nudge of my knife.
too bad no one ever gives as many almonds as i do with trout,
i could have used 3 times what i had been given.

the frog legs were followed by this great braised ox tongue with baby veggies.
this is a dish i have never seen anywhere else.
the person who ate this has it every time they go to phillipe's
regardless of whether he has another main dish or not.
it is that good.

the confit was followed by an excellent crème brûlée.
as always, lucky for the diner it was better than my pic.

my utterly delightful warm chocolate.
i should have gotten you a pic of the sauce oozing out of the center,
it actually had enough body to it that it flowed like lava.

i know i harped on about the trout garnishes,
but this was a fantastic meal and including the three plates of oysters and the espresso and wine
which are not shown, it only cost 9,228 baht or $275.27 usd.
check out the actual bill.
i would think this meal would have been twice the price in nyc, or even more in london.